My writing is devoted to the adventure of food and travel, and it’s a pretty delicious ride. Assignments have sent me snorkeling with black-tipped reef sharks in French Polynesia, whisking through a forest on a dog sled in Alaska, to fish camps in the bayous of Southwest Louisiana, and scalloping off the Forgotten Coast of Florida. I recently served as editor-in-chief of TRIBEZA, Austin’s premiere arts and culture publication. Prior to that I spent two years covering the South’s vibrant culture as a senior editor at Southern Living (where I remain a frequent contributor). My articles have appeared in The New York Times (Dining Section and Sunday Magazine), Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, Cooking Light, Coastal Living, Delta Sky, and Texas Highways, among other national publications, and I previously served as the food editor of Restaurant Business magazine.

I’ve also authored five cookbooks. My first, “Cowgirl Cuisine,” shares the adventure of leaving New York City to cook on a ranch in The Texas Hill Country. I’ve co-written four other cookbooks, “Crescent City Cooking” with Susan Spicer, the chef at Bayona and Mondo in New Orleans; The New York Times bestseller “Down Home with the Neelys” with Food Network stars Pat and Gina Neely; and “Real Cajun” with Donald Link, the acclaimed chef of Herbsaint and Cochon restaurants in New Orleans, which won the prestigious 2010 James Beard Award for Best American Cookbook. “Down South,” my second collaboration with Donald, was published in 2014 and won the 2015 International Association of Culinary Professionals Award for Best American Cookbook.

I've also served as the General Manager of Feather Down Farm Days (and launched the Europe-based farm stay concept to the U.S. market), and worked as the Cowgirl Chef at Hart & Hind Ranch in the beautiful Texas Hill Country. I live in Austin, Texas, with my husband David Norman (partner/head “doughpuncher” at Easy Tiger Bake Shop and Beer Garden), children Flannery and Wyatt, and two retired ranch dogs.